Blake Lively appeared to call on former costar Ben Affleck for help dealing with “chaotic clown” Justin Baldoni on It Ends With Us.
Us Weekly obtained court documents released on Tuesday, January 20, that showed an alleged email sent by Lively, 38, to Affleck, 53, in May 2024. (Affleck’s name is redacted.) Lively put “zero pressure” on Affleck but apparently asked him to “watch the movie and give me any ideas or notes” about her version of the film.
“I’ve just come out the other side (well almost) of the most upsetting experience I’ve ever had on a movie,” Lively wrote in the alleged email. “The making of doc of this film would be more interesting than the movie could ever be. It’s like if Wild Wild Country, Fyre Festival and Going Clear had a baby with The Room … Room also works though.”
Lively appeared to reference Baldoni, but not by name, as the email continued: “Anyway, I ended up rewriting and restructuring the entire script, I also ended up having to direct the movie via the chaotic clown ‘director’/actor/producer/financier/studio head at the center. Yes that’s all the same person.”
Lively also alleged that “everyone” Baldoni hired to work with him on the movie is “in a cult.” She briefly detailed the “difficult” on-set issues before referencing “the wild HR issues” she experienced.
Lively allegedly asked for Affleck’s advice — saying he could send her “a voice memo” via text — on her cut of the movie before she and Baldoni “duke it out” over which would be the final cut. (It was widely reported in 2024 that both Lively and Baldoni had edited their own versions of the film.)
Lively also appeared to ask Affleck whether his kids or then-wife Jennifer Lopez would be “around” to watch as well. “I’d love their opinion also,” she wrote.
Affleck shares kids Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner. He was married to Lopez, 56, from 2022 to 2025.
“I’m such a fan of Jennifer’s, I’ve told her as much every time I’ve met her, and it would be an honor to have her take,” the email continued. “Again, zero pressure. I just really want this to work after all I’ve put into it. This movie nearly killed me. And I can think of very few people who would be as prescriptive and insightful as I know you would be.”
Lively also mentioned that her husband, Ryan Reynolds, had asked Affleck’s longtime friend Matt Damon to take a look at the film as well. Apparent messages sent from Lively and Reynolds, 49, to Damon and his wife, Luciana Barroso, were also included in Tuesday’s filing.
“This movie nearly killed me. The director/costar/producer/financier/head of the studio (yes all one person) had zero experience, but the good news is he also has no taste, and an enormous ego, but only because he’s in a cult and believes he’s our century’s prophet,” Lively wrote. “I wish even one of these things was hyperbole.”
Barroso, 49, apparently apologized to Lively for her “awful” experience on the movie.
“We’ll give you any help we can,” Damon appeared to write. “And if this experience hasn’t totally destroyed your soul, Blake, you should come direct your next movie at Artists Equity. We’re kind of like a cult but a really nice one.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Affleck and Damon for additional comment.
The documents were filed as part of Lively’s unsealed deposition on Tuesday as her legal battle against Baldoni continues. Lively and Baldoni have been battling it out in court since 2024 when the Gossip Girl alum filed her initial complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. She subsequently sued Baldoni over sexual harassment claims.
Baldoni has continued to deny the claims against him and countersued Lively that same year, but his suit was dismissed in June 2025. The two are set to meet in court for a civil trial starting in May of this year.
